By John Bedard
Hell yes! Melodic death metal is one of my absolute favorite genres. With the aggressive vocals and the intense and evolving guitar tone, it makes of an absolutely wonderful experience. It is a genre where the tracks have a tendency to evolve wonderfully and rarely get repetitive. This is no different. You have this piece of music that changes and evolves over time telling you a story as you go. ‘And Death Cometh Upon Us’ is intense and passionate – but a little difficult to type into a sentence due to the first word of the title being the word “and”.
Let us start with the music because it is wonderful. The bass and the drums are brutal and really cut through the mix well. I know that bass and drums should be deep and felt but this is a step further than most. It is a really aggressive tone that really digs deep. The guitar as well digs way down there with this deep dark tone but then also opens up to really rich leads up in the higher registers that really adds some color to the mix. It really completes the whole experience and complements the darker tones wonderfully.
As with the drums and bass being notably more impactful than I would normally expect the same can be said for the vocals. The harsh growl here cuts right through the mix and is one of the angrier sounding vocals that I have heard in a while. There is something about it that just makes it sound more vibrant. I know that is vague, but it is hard to describe if you have not heard it. Imagine you have a dozen red roses but one of them is somehow more. The peddles are redder the stem is greener and it simply stands above all the rest. That is what the sound is like it just feels right. I am hoping somehow that made it clearer.
I wholeheartedly recommend this album. With its dark tone and passionate delivery, you will absolutely be missing out if you let this one go by without listening to it. There is just something about it that makes it stand out. Something that is so much more than what we see on paper. Sure, that could just be me reading too deep into things, but I think that there is something truly special here and you owe it to yourself to not miss out.
- ‘And Death Cometh Upon Us’ is released on 22 November. You can get your copy HERE.
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